INTRODUCTION. 



despatched by the Government of India to the Court of Ava 

 between the years 1795 and 1855 ; l but none of the members of 

 any of these missions was allowed to visit the plateau, and it must 

 be confessed that, with the exception of the ruby mines of Mogok 

 and the silver- lead mines of Bawd win, the reports of the existence 

 of vast mineral wealth have not been verified by recent surveys. 

 The only early account of any of these occurrences that we possess, 

 written by an eye-witness, is that of Pere Guiseppe d'Amato, 2 who 

 was permitted to visit the Ruby Mines at some time before the 

 year 1833. He describes the native methods of working the mines, 

 and mentions the discovery of two masses of ruby, one of which 

 he was assured, as he says by a person of the highest credit, 

 weighed more than 80 pounds. 



The last of these missions, that of Major Phayre in 1855, was 



T 01 lh 1855 ^ ne on ^ one accom panied by a geologist, 

 Dr. T. Oldham, then Superintendent of the 

 Geological Survey ; but he was unable to ascend to the crest of 

 the Shan plateau, though he paid a flying visit to the summit of 

 a hill called the Myaleitdaung, " whose broken outlines," as he 

 says, " and boldly scarped sides form so prominent a feature in 

 the landscape," looking eastwards from Amarapura, which was then 

 the capital ; 3 but he could only observe that the hill was formed 

 of limestone, dipping west at 50 to 60 degrees, and that the hills 

 rising from the plain to the north were composed of similar rock 

 with the same inclination westwards. He was unable to discover 

 any fossils. 



During the field season of 1864-65 Mr. F. Fedden 4 of the 

 Geological Survey travelled through the Shan 



F. Fedden, 1864-65. « * /. , ° , .„ 



States from south to north, entering the lulls 

 near Yamethin, 110 miles south of Mandalay, and marching north- 

 eastwards to Kehsi Mansam (H 5), 6 on the southern border of the 



1 M. Symes, Embassy to Ava in 1795 ; London (1800), p. 324. J. Crawfurd, Account 

 of tho Mission to Ava in 1827 ; Edin. New Phil. Journ., Vol. Ill (1827), p. 364. 

 Journal of an Embassy to the Court of Ava in 1827 ; London (1829), pp. 427, 441. 

 H. Yule, Narrative of the Mission to the Court of Ava in 1855 ; London (1858) ; Appen- 

 dix A, by Dr. T. Oldham, p. 344. S. F. Hannay, Productive Capacities of the Shan 

 Countries ; Sel. Bee. Beng. Govt., No. XXV, p. 10. 



2 The Mines of Precious Stones in the District of Kyatpen ; Journ. As. Soc. Btngal, 

 Vol. II, p. 75. 



8 Op. cil., p. 336. 



* Journal of the Sahveen Surveying Expedition ; Sel. Bee. Govt. India, No. XLIY, 

 p. 30. 



5 These letters and figures denote the squares into which the ma]) is divided. 



B 2 



